Alyssa Healy has produced brilliant consecutive hundreds to guide her team into the semi-finals of the Women's Cricket World Cup, inspiring them to a commanding 10-wicket trouncing over their opponents.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished not out on 113 runs, coming just a few days after her similarly stellar 142-run knock that defeated hosts India at the same Visakhapatnam stadium. This time, she combined in an unbroken double-century opening partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (84 not out) to race to their goal of 199 runs in just under 25 overs.
“I thought I was a little bit poor with the gloves, and perhaps a bit as skipper as well tonight, but we’ll take the two points and progress,” she said.
Ironically, the supreme professionalism of the day's chase as the duo added 202 runs came after perhaps the team's weakest performance in the field under the captain's leadership, with the captain criticizing herself in particular for dropping two of the six chances that were missed.
“I felt somewhat let down with my glovework, and I needed to compensate with the batting, and luckily succeeded,” Healy continued.
From the time data was first taken on fielding performance statistics in 2013, the half-dozen missed catches represented the team's poorest fielding showing at a Women’s World Cup.
“Maybe it’s just that phase of the tournament – we’ve been here a little while, and it’s something we’ll review,” the captain commented.
This allowed the opposition to manage 9-198 after they had chosen to bat first, their highest score in an One-Day International against Australia, with Sobhana Mostary compiling the maiden half-century ever for the Bangladeshi team against the reigning champions.
But the spinner's mesmeric unbroken 10-over spell, in which she claimed two wickets for 18 runs with four maiden overs, was crucial to ensuring Australia’s chase wasn’t too challenging.
Healy Delighted with Victory that Seals Knockout Place
Healy was delighted to discover that the triumph, which puts her undefeated team top of the standings on nine points after four victories and a abandoned match, guarantees them a place in the last-four. “That’s really cool,” she exclaimed.
The 35-year-old captain sped to her hundred off just 73 deliveries, the quickest hundred of the World Cup, and finished with 20 boundaries off the 77 deliveries she faced as she pulled away from her partner later in the knock after they had gone almost shot for shot towards their fifties.
The Opener Impresses with Maiden World Cup Fifty
Left-hander Litchfield struck 12 fours and a six, reaching to her first World Cup fifty off 46 deliveries soon after Healy reached hers off 43. They went on to achieve the third-highest partnership by any Aussie duo at a Women’s World Cup.
In the first innings, during the sluggish fielding effort, Healy dropped the simplest of chances off a teammate and also was unable to grasp a tough skied one off another bowler. Frustratingly, she also did take a clear catch off Brown but failed to review when the official turned down their appeal.
The reinstated Brown bowled the quickest balls at the tournament so far but was nonetheless the team's most expensive bowler, going for 52 runs without a wicket off her nine overs.
Spinners Excel as King Stars
Instead, the spinners excelled, spearheaded by Alana King, whose spell could have been more successful if Beth Mooney hadn’t missed one in the slip cordon.
Other spinners Wareham (2-22 off seven) and Ash Gardner (2-48 off nine overs) both chipped in, while Sutherland consolidated her position as the tournament’s top wicket-taker with her 2-41, bringing her total to 13.
A batter's 44 and Mostary’s unbeaten 66 runs off 80 balls took the team to their record score against the Aussies, but the target was rendered easy meat by a team who had successfully pursued 330 runs against India a few days before.
“It's fantastic when you’ve got the ‘Q’ next to your name in a World Cup,” remarked player-of-the-match King. “No doubt it doesn’t stop here. We anticipate going back to the next venue to face England and the Proteas.”
